Pummeling Polio

 

Big Development Announced

   Dear all:  We have good news to share with everyone related to the our polio eradication efforts.  Progress continues to be made!    
   On 21 September 2015, the Global Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication (GCC) officially verified the worldwide eradication of wild poliovirus type 2 (WPV2).  Convening in Bali, Indonesia, on 21 September 2015, the GCC verified the eradication of this strain after reviewing formal documentation submitted by Member States.  The last detected WPV2 dates to October 1999, from Aligarh, northern India. 
   The announcement marks a major landmark in the global efforts to eradicate all three wild poliovirus serotypes:  WPV1, WPV2 and WPV3.  WPV3 has not been detected globally since November 2012 (in Nigeria); the only remaining endemic WPV1 strains are now restricted to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
 
Best regards,
Carol Pandak
Director | PolioPlus
 
 
Keep up the fight, we are almost there and don't forget to plan something like a WGM to commemorate World Polio Day (October 24th) and/or attend the Livestream event on October 23rd.

Lindsey J. Cancino

District 7020

District Rotary Foundation Chair

Illustration courtesy Susan Fraser